Read a tweet last night that was actually a link to a forum post at the Accordance Bible Software forums. The question in the tweet and forum post was how has Bible study software helped to improve your preaching.

Portability

The first response is one I wholeheartedly agree with. The key word was “Portability” by which he meant that using a laptop and software enabled him to port his entire library around. I would add things like the iPad or iPhone (or any other mobile device) which lets me use that fifteen minutes as I am waiting for a meal or for someone to meet me somewhere. When previously that fifteen minutes might just let me read my bible or one book, now I can search my whole library for a word, find a sermon illustration, or get some information about a passage I am preaching.

Connection

The second post makes another great point that I agree with. We’ve always been able to connect one passage to another via things like concordances, margin notes in our study Bibles, or just our memory. But with Bible software these connections are more accessible and therefore more likely to be found. The person posting gave an example of the word “ridicule” in Luke 14:28-30, the passage counting the cost and not wanting to be ridiculed for not doing so when building a tower. He said that the same word is used to describe Jesus’ treatment in passages about the crucifixion (the soldiers, the religious leaders while on the cross). The connection brings up the idea of ridicule and counting the cost. Did Jesus fail to count the cost when he came to earth and did things that led to his crucifixion? The answer of course is yes he did but felt it worth the cost to redeem our souls. GREAT POINT!

Time and Efficiency

A third way cited was the speed of Bible study software. It saves a lot of time in all three stages of preparation. It saves time in study as I don’t have to search a stack of books manually. They are there ready to go at my finger tips. The time saved allows me to go deeper. In the sermon writing phase, it saves me time in finding good illustrations, in copying and pasting texts or notes into the sermon, and if you use your Bible software to actually write your sermons you don’t have to switch between two applications.

Enjoyment

The final point is my own. I am a tech geek and I love technology. For that reason I am more likely to play around with something if it has to do with technology. Put Bible study software on my computer or mobile device and I am more likely to do things like read my Bible more regularly and longer.

User of Logos Bible Software will usually swear by it as one of the best digital Bible study programs available. Logos has been aggressive in getting their large library of available digital Bible study and general Christian content onto many platforms (PC, Mac, iPad, iPod Touch and iPhone with a possible Android app coming too). They have previously had an online Library at Library.logos.com. Now they are working on a limited version of their Logos Bible Software for the cloud at Biblia.com.

Biblia.com is still in beta. Two of the best features are not yet functional. So that means at present it is useful for Bible and Commentary reading as well as search. But a version of their online library will hopefully be coming. And if they can get the Passage and Word Study Guides up and running too, that would make this a great solution for when you cannot access your Logos BIble Software. For those who are not owners of a Logos package you can read the Bible and a pair of basic commentaries – really just one but a book for the NT and one for the OT.

There are two pains (see above – left for Bible and right for Commentary). Along the far left is the Home key and tabs for Library (not functioning in beta10), Search (functional) and a tab with icons of people, which I assume will be for social interaction of some kind. From Home type in a reference and two links show up below the box (see below). One will search the entire library and the other will search just the open books.

At the top of the two pains are drop down boxes (see above) which are used to select which resource you want to display in that pain (if you sign in with your Logos account you will see much more content).

If you want to share what you are studying click on the Share button above the pane. A popup showing a hypertext link to that spot will be in the box. You could just copy it and paste it into something or you can click on the various buttons to share the verse with that service (Facebook, Google Buzz, Twitter or Email).

I am excited about what Biblia can become. Try it out as they develop this great resource, especially if you are a Logos user.

Reading this blog will prove to you that I love Bible software. Part of the reason is I use it in my day job as a pastor. But I’m also a tech junkie!

The only problem with good Bible software is that it often is expensive. Before you free software producers or fans comment, I am not saying all good Bible software is expensive. Some great programs are free or very inexpensive, especially in the mobile sphere.

As someone who has been using Bible software for nearly two decades and been covering it for many years, I have heard all the arguments for and against charging for Bible software.

Free Software Proponents

The Bible is not owned by any one person. If a Christian truly loves God and his church he should give away his services. After all you cannot out give God. Software is only bits/bytes and not a real tangible product, so it should be free since the recipient isn’t really getting a thing. Also the cost to produce one copy is the same as it is to produce a thousand copies of the software itself. Only the delivery mechanism costs money and in the case of downloads, that cost is negligible.

Pay Software Proponents

A servant is worthy of his hire. How can a person produce good quality software without receiving something to cover his living expenses or her costs of development (computers, software to code with, advertising, paying publishers for content, electricity, food, clothing, shelter, etc)? And if one charges for software he or she can also offer quality support or training for the software to people who are not skilled enough to figure out how to use it on their own.

What’s the Answer?

There may be other arguments in both camps, but those are most of the common ones. So who is right? Put another way, “Should Bible software be free or should it be pay?” The answer is a resounding YES!

It is true that some people have a calling to help the church and Christians by producing tools to help study the Word, learn about discipleship via eBooks, and organize their personal Bible related content like sermons and Bible studies, notes, highlighting and bookmarks and Christian writings in computer software tools. Just like a pastor is called to a full-time vocation of preaching and teaching and caring for the flock, a software developer is called to write software. In order to do that the person will have to be paid or have a way of providing for him or herself. In some cases, people have made enough money in another career that they can take care of those provisions themselves. In the case of e-Sword developer Rick Myers, he used to say on his web site that God had blessed him in the computer industry so now he is donating his time and talents to producing his great and free Bible software. For him and people like him, Bible software should be free and only the resources that cost too much for him to provide are pay software.

In the case of Logos Bible Software, the engine to read their content is actually free. To get all the use of their tools you will have to pay for one of their packages. For them, and companies or individual programmers like them, they have chosen to offer some free content and some pay content. It works making them one of the largest Bible software companies around.

Finally, there is the model of great products like BibleWorks, PC Study Bible, QuickVerse, Laridian PocketBible and more. They charge for their software and for much of their content. Sometimes you can find free books to add onto their packages. The result is a base of users who love their products and keep them in business.

The point is that no one model fits everyone. If you believe that anyone producing anything for the benefit of the church, including Bible software, should give away their services, then you have a number of options to choose from. You can use those products never needing to pay once for any Bible software. But if you don’t mind paying, then you can also get some great content for a small fee sometimes or for many thousands of dollars if you are so inclined and financially blessed.

Conclusion

I can find no Biblical mandate that says all Bible software (or another other service to the Christian church) should always be free. However, there is some support for paying and providing for those who serve the church. Thank God for great people who devote their time to creating the incredible tools available to us today, sometimes for free but often for very reasonable costs. Keep it up! We need you and appreciate you greatly!!

PreachingToday is Christianity Today’s Preaching web site with sermon illustrations, sermon outlines and full manuscript sermons available to help preachers in their preparation. I use them to find good illustrations and ideas for how to handle a difficult passage. While it would be possible to just download and preach their sermons, no one seriously recommends that except in very special circumstances and then giving credit for the sermon is a must to stay ethical.

I like PT for its sermon illustration database primarily. But I also enjoy reading the sermons devotionally.

The site is starting to allow access to their beta site redesign. From the screen shot above you will see that they have five basic areas, represented by the five tabs across the top. The search box is prominent at the very top center. Search for a topic and it finds content in the various areas of the site covering that topic. It also has the capability to search via passages too.

After entering your search each tab populates with a list of the results with the number of each kind of content shown below the tab title.

One of the new areas is Videos. If they have a video about the topic it will show there.

The site has some great content and nice features. Go check it out yourself.

If you use more than one Bible software application, then you likely own multiple copies of the same book on different platforms. Now that there are more than computers involved (iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, Android), the problem is worse.

I love the Holman Christian Standard Bible. I preach from it and use it in my study. I also love the English Standard Version. My favorite commentary is the New American Commentary and the Expositor’s Bible Commentary. I own as few as two copies and as many as five or six copies of each.

This is a real problem. I want to study the HCSB and the ESV in all of my various programs. To do so I would have to purchase them both in the various platforms. I have four Bible apps on my iPhone and iPad. I have three computer software packages on both of my desktops and my notebook. That means that including all four apps and the three application I have 7 copies of those two translations. And this does not even include the Kindle, iBooks, and even PDF versions I have.

There needs to be a new way to buy digital copies of books. I have howled about this issue before wishing the Bible software companies would deal with the issue. There used to be a program called STEP which was an attempt at a universal format for digital Bible publishers to share. Many got on board but modern technology left it behind and now we are back to the pre-STEP days with no publishers wanting to fix the problem. They like re-charging us for the same content because they each get a cut of my hard earned money. It is time for these companies to come together. Technical reasons keep them from using the same book format. But they could share a database of who has rights to what content if they wanted to.

Here is my proposal. Digital publishers could sell books to users and the various software makers could give a copy of that book to users if they can prove they already own the content. So, Holman could give me a digital receipt for my copy of HCSB that is tied to my identity to keep me from sharing it with friends. Then the various Bible software makers could check to make sure I own the HCSB and if I do, they could unlock it in their application. The money I could save in buying only one copy of HCSB would help me greatly. Publishers would like it as they would now have control over their books. And software companies would not have to find a universal file format to share; they could be as proprietary as they want.

One objection I could see is that less money would be flowing into the Bible software makers pockets. They won’t get a cut of my seven copies of the HCSB. But if I not longer have to keep re-purchasing the content, I would not mind paying for quality software as much. That free upgrade would now be a paid upgrade and I would be willing to pay it since I don’t’ have to pay for the HCSB again. And, buyers will still be buying books and they could do so through the software makers getting a cut of the profits from the publisher as they do now.

This week the Atlantic noticed something that readers of my blog have known for quite some time. The iPad is a great tool for Bible study. According to the site, Olive Tree cracked the top 100 highest grossing book applications for the first time. They are citing Drew Heninger, CEO of Olive Tree.

The huge selection of Bible apps actually has one affect that likely waters down the overall figures. Since there is likely only going to be a few apps that will sell popular books from NY Times best selling authors, those sails will rise. The latest Dan Brown or John Grisham can be bough from two or three at the most. But the Bible can be had in more than a dozen different iPad apps. This dilutes their impact. If you could combine all of the Bible app sales and rank them against all the sales of each of the other titles in all their various outlets like Kindle, iBooks, etc., I would bet the Bible dwarfs most books. But despite the dilution, the Bible is  breaking into the top 100.

The Atlantic is trying to say this somehow gives us a hint at who iPad users are. I doubt that. But it does show that the most popular book in human history is popular even as an eBook too!

Bible.Is is a new iPhone Bible app that reads the Bible to you. It is not like many of the Bible apps that have introduced audio. Instead of computer generated Bible reading, it uses dramatized Bible readings. They get the audio from Faith Comes By Hearing, a ministry that supplies the Bible in 400 languages and free for download. Thanks to Bible.is you get it on your iPhone or iPad. It is also available on other platforms, like Android and hopefully Windows Mobile, Blackberry and Symbian OS in the near future. Until then you can subscribe to the SMS version which sends a text message with links to the MP3 of that day’s reading. They say it will take you 40 days to listen to the entire New Testament.

I really like the iPhone app and think it is well worth the price, which is Free. But it would be worth it if it costs even more. Below is a video of the app reading from 1 Kings.

As you can hear it is high quality dramatized Bible reading. But that is not all Bible.is can do. You can of course read from a few different translations, including the ESV, one of my favorites. It doesn’t have as many modern translations as some apps, but it is free.

The app also lets you highlight text, take notes, and bookmark your favorite verses. Notice from the screen shots below that you can listen to the Bible by simply opening to a verse and hitting the play button. You choose to read from several English translations including ASV, BBE, CEV, ESV, KJV and NRSV. The audio is available only for some translations and sometimes only for the NT.

Dramatized Available: ESV OT & NT, KJV OT & NT, NRSV NT only

Non Dramatized Available: KJV NT only, NRSV NT only

These will have to be downloaded via the More option in the toolbar at the bottom of the screen (see bottom left row of screen shots).

If you want to get through the NT in just 40 days there is an audio listening program available for that (see above right).

You can search the Bible and add bookmarks, highlights, and notes. To add these just tap and hold the verse and the screen above center will appear. Tap the first icon on the top toolbar to add a bookmark. The center icon brings up the highlighting color options. And the third icon is for sharing the verse on Facebook. I wish it had Twitter, but maybe in a future release.

Once the verse is highlighted it will look like the upper left screen shot. The bookmarks list is in the center above and the right is for changing the text size or the language.

Below you will see the More screen options. Share is for sending verses via email. The settings screen is the one on the upper right. Download is for adding translations and audio Bibles. Support and About are what you would expect. The screen shot below on the right is for changing the toolbar icons. You can change the default to include other things as you wish.

I think Bible.is is a great Bible listening app. My only complaints are that it doesn’t have my favorite translations, the HCSB and it doesn’t share via Twitter.  Other than that it is a wonderful app well worth your time to download and use to listen to God’s word. I plan to listen to the program on the go via my car stereo (cassette adapter).

WorldBible as a Bible reader app is a mixed bag. It has some nice features and actually includes more modern translations than most of the simple Bible reader apps. But it has a couple of glaring problems. For that reason I cannot recommend it.

The first thing you notice when you open it is that the interface is very attractive. It is simple. In fact too simple. Look at the screen shot below and tell me if you can see anything missing in this Bible reader app.

If you said verse numbers then give yourself a cookie. Now I can stand not having verse numbers as an option. But this app has no option to turn them on.

The screen shot above has the options tool open. You get there by tapping on the paper clip in the upper right corner. It has some nice options. You can access the books of the Bible. See below.

You will also notice that WorldBible has some nice modern translations like NIV, NASB, and the Amplified Bible. Most of them are international versions.

WorldBible lets you change the font. But what in the world is this (see below)? Why would you want this font? I can only image. There are some nice options but some totally unthinkable options. Clearly this is put together by someone who doesn’t even use the Bible.

The fact is when you visit the WorldBible’s web site you see some questionable apps there. At least one would be offensive to most people who revere the Christian scriptures. It is clear that this app is made by people who don’t really use the Bible daily or even much at all. So I cannot recommend it.

Below is my video review saying much the same thing. At least you can see for yourself.

I’m not going to bother with a list of pros and cons. Just don’t bother. Get one of the other apps.

TouchBible Loaded is another Bible reader app for the Apple iPad. It has some nice feature, but unfortunately it falls down in one big one.

The interface is simple with the ability to pinch to zoom, scrolling within a chapter, and advancing or going back a chapter at a time using swiping or the arrow keys.

Of course you can search using basic search functionality in the OT or NT only and searching by word, any words or exact phrases.

It is a little limited in content with only the NET, KJV, WEB, BBE, ASV, YLT, Darby, and Webster.

Some of the nicer features included is the ability to have parallel translations and adding notes and highlighted.

Below is my video review and then the Pros and Cons of the app after that:

Pros:

• Simple
• Has parallel version mode
• Can add notes, bookmarks, highlights
• Pinch to zoom
• Night mode
• Dial-a-verse which loads on random verse each time starts
• Paragraph and verse per line mode

Cons:

• Slow to respond
• Few translations
• Help, Reading plan for daily bible reading, maps are Internet only features

The TouchBible Loaded that I reviewed in this video is $4.99 in the app store. There is also a free version and version for the iPod Touch/iPhone.

Christian Computing Magazine is out for this month. In it I did a review of the four Bible Study apps from Logos, PocketBible from Laridian, OliveTree’s Bible Reader, and MantisBible. Check it out at CCMag.com. Also they are giving away $500 Apple Gift card this month. So there’s another reason to go get the issue.